BY DESIGN : HOME ECONOMICS : An Eclectic Group

If Bill Ryan had to come up with a word to describe his taste in home decor, it would be Contemporientique.

The ocean-view Dana Point townhouse he shares with girlfriend Briget Barr is filled with a surprisingly well-balanced and uncluttered combination of contemporary leather and canvas furniture, Victorian antiques and Chinese lacquered pieces, including a chest nabbed for $200 and an end table for $100 at a consignment shop.

As a boy on the East Coast, Ryan would comb the city dump for “buried treasure.” Now, the former IBM financing specialist believes the secret to finding valuable, one-of-a-kind collectibles is shopping the secondhand stores in wealthier or artsy areas, such as Laguna Beach.

To get the best deal, he advises, learn to haggle over price without being obnoxious. The dealers respect that. “It’s a matter of pride to negotiate prices.”

Ryan also hits garage sales, retail liquidations and the “scratch and dent” departments of such chain stores as Ikea and Pier I Imports, where he bought a tortoise stool. (Sandpaper and a little paint can undo almost any damage, he says.) He picked up a pair of discontinued dining chairs, priced at $55 each at Bif Korea, to flank the Chinese chest.

Barr tolerates the constant quest for deals, even finds it amusing--up to a point. When she finally moved West last year after a prolonged bicoastal relationship, she knew there would be little room in the house for her furniture. But she didn’t expect Ryan to pick her up at the airport in a car crammed so full with garage-sale goodies--scored along the drive--that there was barely enough space for her.

Sources

Apple Tree, 5032 Katella Ave. Los Alamitos, (310) 430-6080

The Great Exchange Consignment Co., 31582 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (714) 499-4805

On Consignment, 1190 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach (714) 497-3086